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Bee forage check

How good is this spot for honey bees?

Enter an address or tap the map. You'll see which bee plants and crops are within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more), when the honey flow comes and when there's a dearth, nearby water, a few things worth checking, and how the spot ranks against random sites in your state and across the country.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

The colors are the national forage map: every square kilometer of the lower 48, scored the same way. See the honey flow for your state and town, the best and worst spots we found, or how the scoring works.

Forage report for 44.6181, -103.3979

Estimated forage here is better than about 55% of sites in South Dakota. Against other South Dakota sites it stands out most in fall (98th percentile) and lowest in spring (41st). Biggest nearby bee crops: alfalfa (right here, grown 1 of the last 5 years); corn (right here, grown 4 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 77th percentile (spring 32nd, summer 86th, fall 97th)
  • South Dakota: 55th percentile (spring 41st, summer 55th, fall 98th)
  • Northwestern Great Plains: 93rd percentile (spring 64th, summer 92nd, fall 93rd)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across South Dakota, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Apr 1 — Dandelion, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red
  • Main flow: Jun 16 to Sep 15 — Alfalfa
  • Season ends: Oct 15

Bee crops nearby

  • Alfalfa: about 1,313 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 260 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 168 acres in a typical year, nearest 0 mi , blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Alfalfa: about 184 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi E, blooms late Jun – early Sep
  • Corn: about 46 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.3 mi N, blooms late Jul – early Sep
  • Corn: about 86 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late Jul – early Sep

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Dandelion, Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard); white
  • Fall honey (September to November): Alfalfa, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red; extra light amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Alfalfa, Roadside weeds (clover, dandelion, sweet clover, mustard), Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; white

Things to watch

  • Flood map not checked. FEMA's flood map service didn't answer. Check it directly.

An estimate from public maps (USDA crop maps 2021-2025 averaged, LANDFIRE vegetation), not a survey of the ground. Maps can't see garden plantings, understory density, other beekeepers' hives, or this year's weather. Honey composition is a nectar-source estimate, not a pollen analysis. Benchmark 2026.5. How this works.